Entrepreneurship education: a case study in curriculum development
Date
2014-04-03
Authors
Smith, Gillian Gabrielle
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Abstract
This research report investigates some of the process and tensions involved in
translating the perceived need for Entrepreneurship Education into the lived
curriculum at selected schools in Gauteng, Advocates for Entrepreneurship Education
from difierent sectors of society began to articulate this need in the mid-nineties
urging schools to introduce Entrepreneurship Education programmes, and in some
cases laying down how they believed it should be taught.
A qualitative and exploratory research design was employed utilizing methods such as
questionnaires, observations and interviews. The research carried out in this study
identified the source of the original idea in the school, the reasons why teachers
believed it was important to teach children entrepreneurship, the tensions and
constraints encountered in doing so and the manner in which it is being presented. It
also investigated the reasons why some of the schools in the sample have not
introduced it
One of the findings was that the status of the promoter had a direct bearing on the
success of the course. Where it was the principal the course was most successful,
where it was the media center teacher it was not initiated at all. Also, teachers
indicated a variety of reasons for the importance of Entrepreneurship Education. The
one quoted most often was the ne?d for the less able pupil to provide for his own
employment and so by extension, the belief that to be a job-creator is less challenging
than to be a job seeker. How the new course was slotted into the timetable by
different schools was an indication of the tensions and constraints experienced. As a •
utilitarian course with a practical component Entrepreneurship Education suffers the
same low status as other subjects which are not tied into examinations. That schools
had. not adopted Entrepreneurship Education was due either to ignorance or
indifference in spite of efforts by advocates such as the state and subject interest
groups.